The ongoing round of Premier League fixtures concludes on Monday evening with a London derby with a twist as Crystal Palace host Arsenal in the final game of the weekend. In order to keep up the ground on Manchester City in fourth place this is a match Arsenal have to win but with teams down the bottom having a good midweek Palace could do with the points themselves.
Crystal Palace
Sam Allardyce’s men ended a run of four wins on the bounce when they slipped up at Southampton last time out but Allardyce didn’t sound too down after that match and I got the feeling they might have had their eye on this match believing it was one they could win which would be an interesting way of thinking.
If Palace are to win this game then you would think Christian Benteke and Wilfred Zaha will be required to keep up their impressive recent form. They have the potential to be a threat for the Arsenal back line. Another reason for their good form recently has been a solid defence, something Allardyce is famed for.
Arsenal
If the Gunners are to pick up the points in this match then they will have to break out of a run of three successive defeats on the road. Admittedly two of those defeats were at Chelsea and Liverpool but even so it isn’t a good run of form they are in away from home at the minute and it is a large reason why they are struggling to hang onto the top four.
Much was made of Arsenal’s potential defensive deficiencies in midweek but they overcame a poor West Ham side to build a little bit of confidence to take into this match but they can’t afford any fragility to present itself and they could do with their star players such as Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to be on top form.
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Team News
Crystal Palace are set to be without a fair few key men for this match. Scott Dann, Patrick van Aanholt and James Tomkins are definitely out joining the likes of Yohann Cabaye and Fraizer Campbell on the injured list.
Arsenal are still without goalkeepers David Ospina and Petr Cech so Emiliano Martinez is set to continue in goal. Laurent Koscielny is also out but there is a chance Francis Coquelin will return.
Betting
With both sides missing so many key players, especially defensive personnel, then I think this could be one of those crazy end to end Monday night games which goes a little crazy especially with both sides really needing the win so I’m going to play a couple of wacky bets which offer a bit of value.
We’ve already seen a game like this spark into life this weekend when Everton played Leicester in similar circumstances and we only need to look back to Hull vs Middlesbrough to see what a must win element can do to sides. I certainly expect goals in this one. Both are missing key defensive weapons and both attacks are going pretty well. There is more than a 4/1 chance this one contains five or more goals in my eyes.
Arsenal have a really poor away record at the minute and their defending of set-pieces at West Brom was an absolute joke recently and Crystal Palace are sure to target that area of the game with Allardyce not being wet behind the ears. I certainly see both sides scoring but if Palace can expose that weak centre that is inside Arsenal they might well break out with the three points they desperately seek.
Tips
Back Over 4.5 goals for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with BetBright
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Back Crystal Palace to win and both teams to score for a 2/10 stake at 7.50 with Bwin
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